Landscape anthropization has been identified as one of the main drivers of pathogen emergence worldwide, facilitating pathogen spillover between domestic species and wildlife. The present study ...investigated Carnivore protoparvovirus‐1 infection using molecular methods in 98 free‐ranging wild guignas (Leopardus guigna) and 262 co‐occurring owned, free‐roaming rural domestic cats. We also assessed landscape anthropization variables as potential drivers of infection. Protoparvovirus DNA was detected in guignas across their entire distribution range, with observed prevalence of 13.3% (real‐time PCR) and 9% (conventional PCR) in guignas, and 6.1% (conventional PCR) in cats. Prevalence in guigna did not vary depending on age, sex, study area or landscape variables. Prevalence was higher in juvenile cats (16.7%) than in adults (4.4%). Molecular characterization of the virus by amplification and sequencing of almost the entire vp2 gene (1,746 bp) from one guigna and five domestic cats was achieved, showing genetic similarities to canine parvovirus 2c (CPV‐2c) (one guigna and one cat), feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) (one cat), CPV‐2 (no subtype identified) (two cats), CPV‐2a (one cat). The CVP‐2c‐like sequence found in a guigna clustered together with domestic cat and dog CPV‐2c sequences from South America, suggesting possible spillover from a domestic to a wild species as the origin of infection in guigna. No clinical signs of disease were found in PCR‐positive animals except for a CPV‐2c‐infected guigna, which had haemorrhagic diarrhoea and died a few days after arrival at a wildlife rescue centre. Our findings reveal widespread presence of Carnivore protoparvovirus‐1 across the guigna distribution in Chile and suggest that virus transmission potentially occurs from domestic to wild carnivores, causing severe disease and death in susceptible wild guignas.
Cervids are important hosts for ticks and although they are refractory to some tick‐borne agents such as Borrelia, they do act as reservoirs for others such as Babesia. Babesia and Borrelia are ...commonly transmitted by Ixodes spp. associated with deer, and most of the knowledge on their biological cycles comes from northern latitudes of the globe. In this study, we performed genetic screenings to detect tick‐borne agents in blood and Ixodes stilesi ticks collected from an insular population of threatened pudu (Pudu puda), a pygmy deer species that inhabits temperate rainforests of southern South America. Inferred by phylogenetic analyses for 18S rRNA, COI and cytb genes, our results unveiled a novel genospecies of Babesia (Babesia sp. pudui) genetically related to Babesia odocoilei, a species that infects Odocoileus virginianus deer in North America. Although blood of the deer was negative for Borrelia infection, multilocus sequencing typing performed in one I. stilesi tick revealed the occurrence of a novel genetic variant of Borrelia chilensis, differing 0.93% and 0.18% in flaB and pepX genes with the type of strain for the species, respectively. Such a genetic divergence could be the result of thousands of years of isolation because of recent glaciation events that separated pudus and their tick populations at Chiloé Island approximately 437,000 years ago. The finding of a Babesia sp. has no precedents for wild and domestic ungulates in Chile and shows a novel piroplasmid that must be considered now on in rehabilitation centres and zoos that attend pudu deer. Further research is now necessary to confirm pathogenic roles.
Human transformation of natural habitats facilitates pathogen transmission between domestic and wild species. The guigna (Leopardus guigna), a small felid found in Chile, has experienced habitat loss ...and an increased probability of contact with domestic cats. Here, we describe the interspecific transmission of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) between domestic cats and guignas and assess its correlation with human landscape perturbation. Blood and tissue samples from 102 free‐ranging guignas and 262 domestic cats were collected and analyzed by PCR and sequencing. Guigna and domestic cat FeLV and FIV prevalence were very similar. Phylogenetic analysis showed guigna FeLV and FIV sequences are positioned within worldwide domestic cat virus clades with high nucleotide similarity. Guigna FeLV infection was significantly associated with fragmented landscapes with resident domestic cats. There was little evidence of clinical signs of disease in guignas. Our results contribute to the understanding of the implications of landscape perturbation and emerging diseases.
Owned, free-roaming domestic cats are abundant in the Chilean countryside, having high probability of contact with wildlife and potentially participating as reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens. In the ...present study, 131 cats from two remote study areas (Valdivia and Chiloe Island) in southern Chile were analyzed for infection/exposure to eight pathogens. Serum samples from 112 cats were tested for antigens against feline leukemia virus (FeLV antigen-ELISA) and antibodies against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV-ELISA) and canine distemper virus (CDV-serum neutralization), yielded occurrence of 8.9, 1.7 and 0.8% respectively. The presence of DNA of five vector-borne pathogens, piroplasmids, Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp., Rickettsia spp. and Bartonella spp. was investigated in thirty cats. Overall observed occurrence was 6.6% (2/30) for both Anaplasma platys, and B. henselae, and 3.3% (1/30) for both Bartonella sp. and Theileria equi. Observed occurrence for all vector-borne pathogens in Valdivia area was significantly higher than in Chiloe Island (5/15 vs 0/15; P=0.04). Our results represent the first description of exposure to CDV and DNA detection of T. equi and A. platys in domestic cats in Chile. The results highlight the importance of performing pathogen screening in owned, free-roaming rural cats to evaluate their potential role as reservoirs of infection and vectors for disease transmission to wildlife.
Context
Understanding how rare and threatened species respond to habitat heterogeneity at different spatial scales requires unbiased population-level parameters incorporating individual variability ...in occurrence and detection probabilities.
Objectives
We used a Bayesian approach integrating capture-recapture data into an occupancy framework. We assessed the response of Darwin’s fox—a forest-specialist mesocarnivore—to habitat heterogeneity in landscapes with low and moderate fragmentation levels in Chiloé Island, Southern Chile. Our model accounted for differences in capture, occupancy and detection probability among individuals.
Results
We captured 33 Darwin’s foxes, totaling 65 captures/recaptures in 62 different traps (720 trap/nights). Foxes’ detection increased across years and females (n = 15; mean detection probability ± SE 0.07 ± 0.03) were less detected than males (n = 18; 0.11 ± 0.04). Mean 95% BCI of Darwin’s fox occupancy (
ψ
) varied from 0.59 0.43–0.75 in the landscape with the largest mean of forest patch size, to 0.24 0.22–0.28 in the less heterogeneous landscape. Species occupancy decreased with distance from freshwater bodies. We also found a significant interaction between distance from freshwater bodies and total edges at landscape level, resulting in high occupancy values (> 0.5) in landscapes dominated by forest ecotones.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest the effect of habitat heterogeneity on local populations of the threaten Darwin’s fox in Chiloé Island is modulated by the individual response to habitat attributes at local and landscape scales, but also by emergent cross-scale interactions.
We present comments on an article recently published in Ecology and Evolution (“High‐resolution melting of the cytochrome B gene in fecal DNA: A powerful approach for fox species identification of ...the Lycalopex genus in Chile”) by Anabalon et al. that reported the presence of Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes), a temperate forest specialist, in the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile. We argue that this putative record lacks ecological support in light of ongoing research on this endangered species, and contains numerous methodological flaws and omissions related to the molecular identification of the species. Based on these issues, we suggest the scientific community and conservation decision‐makers disregard the alleged presence of the Darwin's fox in the Atacama Desert.
We present a Reply letter for a recent paper reporting the presence of Darwin´s fox, a forest‐specialist canid, in the Atacama Desert, 1,200 km north of its known distribution.
Since the Symposium on Mycobacterial Infections of Zoo Animals held at the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution in 1976, our understanding of tuberculosis (TB) in non-domestic animals ...has greatly expanded. Throughout the past decades, this knowledge has resulted in improved zoo-habitats and facilities design, stricter biosecurity measures, and advanced diagnostic methods, including molecular techniques, that have significantly decreased the number of clinical disease caused by
in apes under human care settings. In the other hand, exponential growth of human populations has led to human encroachment in wildlife habitat which has resulted in increased inter-species contact and recurrent conflict between humans and wild animals. Although it is widely accepted that non-human primates are susceptible to
infection, opinions differ with regard to the susceptibility to develop disease amongst different taxa. Specifically, some authors suggest that African apes are less susceptible to clinical tuberculosis than other species of primates. The aim of this review article is to evaluate the current scientific literature to determine the actual health impact of disease caused by
and more specifically
sensu stricto in African apes. The literature review included literature databases: Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus, Wiley, Springer and Science direct, without temporal limit and proceedings of annual conferences in the field of wildlife health. Our general inclusion criteria included information about serological, molecular, pathological (macroscopic and/or microscopic), and clinical evidence of TB in African apes; while our, our more stringent inclusion selection criteria required that in addition to a gross pathology, a molecular test confirmed
sensu stricto as the cause of disease or death. We identified eleven reports of tuberculosis in African apes; of those, only four reports met the more stringent selection criteria that confirmed
sensu stricto in six individuals. All reports that confirmed
sensu stricto originated from zoological collections. Our review suggests that there is little evidence of disease or mortality caused by
in the different species of African apes both under human care and free ranging populations. Additional studies are needed in free-ranging, semi-captive populations (sanctuaries) and animals under human care (zoos and rescue centers) to definitely conclude that this mycobacteria has a limited health effect in African ape species.
We present comments on an article recently published in Ecology and Evolution ("High-resolution melting of the cytochrome B gene in fecal DNA: A powerful approach for fox species identification of ...the
genus in Chile") by Anabalon
that reported the presence of Darwin's fox (
), a temperate forest specialist, in the hyperarid Atacama Desert of northern Chile. We argue that this putative record lacks ecological support in light of ongoing research on this endangered species, and contains numerous methodological flaws and omissions related to the molecular identification of the species. Based on these issues, we suggest the scientific community and conservation decision-makers disregard the alleged presence of the Darwin's fox in the Atacama Desert.
Viral diseases jeopardize the health of wildlife in Chile. However, this country lacks health surveillance programs that allow for defining preventive measures to tackle such diseases. The objective ...of this study was to determine the occurrence and the genetic diversity of pestivirus, herpesvirus and adenovirus in pudus from Chile. Blood samples from wild (n=34) and captive (n=32) pudus were collected between 2011 and 2019 and analyzed through consensus PCR. All the samples were negative to pestivirus and adenovirus. Herpesvirus was confirmed in four captive, and one wild pudu. All four zoo animals share the same sequence for both polymerase and glycoprotein genes. Both sequences share a 100% identity with caprine herpesvirus-2, classifying them in the same cluster as the Macavirus group. In turn, novel sequences of the polymerase and glycoprotein B genes were obtained from the wild pudu. Our study reports the first evidence of CpHV-2 infection in Chile and South American ungulate populations. Further research will be necessary to assess the pathogenicity of CpHV-2 in this species. It is also urgently recommended that molecular, serological and pathological screening should be conducted in Chilean wild and captive pudus to understand the impact of the herpesvirus on their populations.
Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) is the viral agent causing the most important economic losses in livestock throughout the world. Infection of fetuses before their immunological maturity causes the ...birth of animals persistently infected with BVDV (PI), which are the main source of infection and maintenance of this pathogen in a herd. There is evidence of susceptibility to infection with BVDV in more than 50 species of the order Artiodactyla, and the ability to establish persistent infection in wild cervid species of South America could represent an important risk in control and eradication programs of BVDV in cattle, and a threat to conservation of these wild species. In this study, a serological and virological study was performed to detect BVDV infection in a captive population of non-bovine artiodactyl species in a Chilean zoo with antecedents of abortions whose pathology suggests an infectious etiology.
Detection of neutralizing antibodies against BVDV was performed in 112 artiodactyl animals from a zoo in Chile. Three alpacas (Vicugna pacos), one guanaco (Lama guanicoe) and seven pudús (Pudu puda) resulted seropositive, and the only seronegative pudú was suspected to be persistently infected with BVDV. Then two blood samples nine months apart were analyzed by a viral neutralization test and RT-PCR. Non-cytopathogenic BVDVs were isolated in both samples. A phylogenetic analysis showed that the virus was highly related to BVDV-1b strains circulating among Chilean cattle.
This is the first report of a South American deer persistently infected with Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus. Further studies are needed to determine the possible role of BVDV as a pathogen in pudús and as a threat to their conservation.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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